The Submission: A Novel

A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the Year An Entertainment Weekly Best Novel of the Year An NPR Top Ten Novel of the Year A Washington Post Notable Book of the Year Esquire Book of the Year

A jury chooses a memorial for the victims of a devastating terrorist attack on Manhattan, only to learn that the anonymous designer is an American Muslim -- an enigmatic architect named Mohammad Khan. His selection reverberates across a divided, traumatized country and, more intimately, through individual lives. Claire Burwell, the sole widow on the jury, becomes Khan's fiercest defender. But when the news of his selection becomes public, she comes under pressure from outraged family members and into collision with hungry journalists, opportunistic politicians, and even Khan himself. A story of clashing convictions and emotions, and a cunning satire of political ideals, The Submission is a resonant novel for our times.

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Review:

Amazon Best Books of the Month, August 2011: Amy Waldman has performed a rare and dangerous feat in writing an airtight, multi-viewed, highly readable post-9/11 novel. When a Muslim architect wins a blind contest to design a Ground Zero Memorial, a city of eleven million people takes notice. Waldman, a former bureau chief for the New York Times, explores a diversity of viewpoints around this fictional event, bringing in politicians, businessmen, journalists, activists, and normal people whose lives--whether by happenstance, choice, or even due to their country of origin--get caught up in the controversy. Incredibly, she manages to keep all the balls in the air without ever fumbling. The story is moving and keeps the pages turning, but there are also bigger themes at work: of individuals versus groups; about the purpose of art, commerce, government, and journalism in society; of how people respond to grief and terror. The result is honest, compelling, and breathtaking.--Chris Schluep

About the Author:

Amy Waldman was co-chief of the South Asia bureau of The New York Times. Her fiction has appeared in The Atlantic and the Boston Review and is anthologized in The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2010. She lives with her family in Brooklyn. This is her first novel.

Book Description Picador, 2012. Book Condition: New. Brand New, Unread Copy in Perfect Condition. A+ Customer Service! Summary: " Nervy and absorbing . . . A story that has more verisimilitude, more political resonance and way more heart than The Bonfire of the Vanities . . . Writing in limber, detailed prose, Ms. Waldman has created a choral novel with a big historical backdrop and pointillist emotional detail , a novel that gives the reader a visceral understanding of how New York City and the country at large reacted to 9/11, and how that terrible day affected some Americans' attitudes toward Muslims and immigrants . . . Ms. Waldman does an affecting job of showing how people who have lost relatives in the terrorist attack are trying to grapple with their own confusion and conflicting emotions, even as they find themselves caught up in a political conflagration. Indeed, it is Ms. Waldman's ability to depict their grief and anger . . . that lends this novel its extraordinary emotional ballast ." Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times " Elegantly written and tightly plotted . . . With the keen and expert eye of an excellent journalist, Waldman provides telling portraits of all the drama's major players, deftly exposing their foibles and their mutual manipulations. And she has a sense of humor: the novel is punctuated with darkly comic details [which] would seem richly satirical were it not for the fact that they so closely reflect reality . . . In these unnerving times, in which Waldman has seen facts take the shape of her fiction, a historian's novel at once lucid, illuminating and entertaining is a necessary and valuable gift ." Claire Messud, The New York Times Book Review " Moving . . . Eloquent . . . A coherent, timely and fascinating examination of a grieving America's relationship with itself . Waldman . . . excels at involving the reader in vibrant dialogues in which the level of the debate is high and the consequences significant . . . In presenting us with a world that is recognizably our own, despite her tweaking of one of its variables, the author subverts the central dictum of alternate history: namely, that the single historical switch should precipitate multiple and major consequences. Instead, brilliantly, Waldman gives us back our own world ." Chris Cleave, The Washington Post " Masterful . . . [A] scathing, dazzlingly crafted indictment of the messes people make when they mistake ideology for morality and bigotry for patriotism . . . Waldman, an ex- New York Times bureau chief, unspools her story with the truth-bound grit of a seasoned journalist and the elegance of a born novelist." Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly "Propulsive and thoughtful . . . [A] smart and sensitive work of fiction ." Mark Athitakis, Star-Tribune (Minneapolis) " Devastating . . . An excellent debut novel . . . The Submission is an exceedingly accomplished novel . The pacing, dialogue, characters and plot are absorbing from the start. Waldman populates her work with a dozen realistic characters ." Anne Trubek, The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) " A novel whose time has come . . . [Amy Waldman's] debut novel is a sharp work with complex characters and an unflinching skepticism about human motivation . Waldman recognizes the tragedy of 9/11 without indulging in sentimentality . . . Much of the power in Waldman's writing comes from her ability to gradually reveal layer upon layer of her characters' circumstances, creating a continual sense of enlightenment as the story progresses." M.L. Johnson, Associated Press " [A] gripping, deeply intelligent novel . . . Panoramic in scope but thrillingly light on its feet . . . Waldman does a masterful job of getting into the heads of New Yorkers . . . [A] dazzling tapestry of a grieving city ." Kimberly Cutter, Marie Claire "Waldman, a former South Asia bureau co-chief for the Times , has antennae well tuned to the media circus. Perhaps it's her reporter's skill that makes her so nimble at sketching in characters; she's a penetrating psychologist , especi. Bookseller Inventory # ABE_book_new_1250007577

Book Description St Martin s Press, United States, 2012. Paperback. Book Condition: New. Reprint. 208 x 137 mm. Language: English Brand New Book. A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the Year An Entertainment Weekly Best Novel of the Year An NPR Top Ten Novel of the Year A Washington Post Notable Book of the Year Esquire Book of the YearA jury chooses a memorial for the victims of a devastating terrorist attack on Manhattan, only to learn that the anonymous designer is an American Muslim -- an enigmatic architect named Mohammad Khan. His selection reverberates across a divided, traumatized country and, more intimately, through individual lives. Claire Burwell, the sole widow on the jury, becomes Khan s fiercest defender. But when the news of his selection becomes public, she comes under pressure from outraged family members and into collision with hungry journalists, opportunistic politicians, and even Khan himself. A story of clashing convictions and emotions, and a cunning satire of political ideals, The Submission is a resonant novel for our times. Bookseller Inventory # ABZ9781250007575

Book Description Paperback. Book Condition: New. 139mm x 24mm x 210mm. Paperback. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. 337 pages. 0.304. Bookseller Inventory # 9781250007575

Book Description St Martin s Press, United States, 2012. Paperback. Book Condition: New. Reprint. 208 x 137 mm. Language: English Brand New Book. A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the Year An Entertainment Weekly Best Novel of the Year An NPR Top Ten Novel of the Year A Washington Post Notable Book of the Year Esquire Book of the YearA jury chooses a memorial for the victims of a devastating terrorist attack on Manhattan, only to learn that the anonymous designer is an American Muslim -- an enigmatic architect named Mohammad Khan. His selection reverberates across a divided, traumatized country and, more intimately, through individual lives. Claire Burwell, the sole widow on the jury, becomes Khan s fiercest defender. But when the news of his selection becomes public, she comes under pressure from outraged family members and into collision with hungry journalists, opportunistic politicians, and even Khan himself. A story of clashing convictions and emotions, and a cunning satire of political ideals, The Submission is a resonant novel for our times. Bookseller Inventory # ABZ9781250007575

Book Description Picador. PAPERBACK. Book Condition: New. 1250007577 AtAGlance Books -- Orders ship next business day, with tracking numbers, from our warehouse in upstate NY. This book is in brand new condition. Bookseller Inventory # 9781250007575N